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Hang fire

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Joined
Jan 24, 2008
Messages
124
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Location
Dubuque IA
Well it happened to me. I had a windy day and was still hunting the woods
I was able to get up on a small buck 6 point about 30-35 yards and did not shoot him as I was looking for a mature buck.
Then later I snuck up on another deer a Mature Doe laying in its bed I snuck up from down wind to around 25 yards away.
I was so close I planed on taking her with a neck shot while she was laying down.
Took aim fired and heard fiz I looked at gun thinking it might need another cap while taking it off my shoulder and then it went BOOM sending the shot way over its head. This is the first time I have had this happen.
I did have shot opportunities every day on small immature deer but that was not what I was after, I even turned down a shot at a little doe when walking back to my truck and only 75 yards from my truck. I walked up to about 35 yards of her before she ran off.
So this season I ended up with Tag soup
Maybe I should be shooting small Deer ? the picture of trees the doe is just right of center laying down with it head up.
 

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That's the thing with cappers. You just never know what the condition of that drum, bolster or what ever you have is inside, oil or damp your at its mercy unless you unscrew the nipple and check it and run the risk of dropping the nipple in the process!
That aside, congrats on your stalking skill. I'm impressed :cool:
 
Should you shoot small deer? Depends on what you are after. I am the only one in the house that eats venison, so I do not need to shoot an elephant with hooves. Mostly I am happy to see deer and get close enough for a shot I think will be a sure thing. That means inside 100 yards with a centerfire rifle and cast bullets or into the 50 yard range with a smokepole. If that is a smaller deer, no biggie. The smaller ones are definitely a lot easier to haul back to the truck. Since I had to wade across a sizable river with the carcass this year, I was happy to have shot a yearling doe. Very tender.
 
I use hottest available water (dam the fear of flash rust), followed by isopropyl alcohol. Hot barrel is wiped with dry patches and then left to dry muzzle down as long as possible (overnight, while in camp). Only fall to fire I had with a cap lock while hunting was after cleaning with ambient temperature water the night before I loaded it.

If I happen to get a bit of flash rust while hunting from cleaning with hot water (haven’t yet), so be it. Can take care of it when I get home.
 
Red Stuff.
Equal parts - Miracle oil, Colemans camp fuel, Mineral spirits,
Cleans without water, works great on ALL guns
Leaves a very light coating behind to stop all rust worries.
Doesn't matter if it is hot or cold outside. Does not freeze like water will on a hunt
Super easy to wipe out with a dry patch when it's time to load for hunting.
I have been using this since I was a kid. (Grandpas really are smart!)
 
I use hottest available water (dam the fear of flash rust), followed by isopropyl alcohol. Hot barrel is wiped with dry patches and then left to dry muzzle down as long as possible (overnight, while in camp). Only fall to fire I had with a cap lock while hunting was after cleaning with ambient temperature water the night before I loaded it.

If I happen to get a bit of flash rust while hunting from cleaning with hot water (haven’t yet), so be it. Can take care of it when I get home.
Absolutely perfect, just to add a beeswax mix patch to the bore while still just about warm to remove threat of rust and ease loading next day.
Oil is the single most issue with ignition problems that some just can not get there heads around to drop it, it's like they are addicted to the stuff!
Why they even thin it with alcohol or other distillates but it will still catch you and right at the wrong moment.

Gents....oil out the ground is for engines and sowing machines. Anything that uses loose black powder in a vented barrel keep well away!
 
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One of the main causes for a hang fire is after cleaning leaving too much oil in the bore I always leave the bore dry with only a drop of oil on a paper patch .Before I start to shoot I snap a couple of caps on each nipple on pest control I can fire a hundred shots in one outing with no misfires ,I do not swab the bore after each shot I prefer a bore that is coked which shoots better , if the wads become difficult to ram home a bit of spittle in each barrel will do the job . A big mistake when cleaning is to remove the nipples this can cause all kinds of problems with stripped threads the most common, these should be left in the barrels and flushed with hot water.
Feltwad
 
I put my ramrod with a dry cleaning patch on a jag down in the breech area to catch any residual oil and crud and pop 3 caps before I load my TC. You just don't know what might be left behind after you clean a rifle no matter how well you think you did. The caps blow everything out, the patch keeps the rest of the barrel clean.
 
Well it happened to me. I had a windy day and was still hunting the woods
I was able to get up on a small buck 6 point about 30-35 yards and did not shoot him as I was looking for a mature buck.
Then later I snuck up on another deer a Mature Doe laying in its bed I snuck up from down wind to around 25 yards away.
I was so close I planed on taking her with a neck shot while she was laying down.
Took aim fired and heard fiz I looked at gun thinking it might need another cap while taking it off my shoulder and then it went BOOM sending the shot way over its head. This is the first time I have had this happen.
I did have shot opportunities every day on small immature deer but that was not what I was after, I even turned down a shot at a little doe when walking back to my truck and only 75 yards from my truck. I walked up to about 35 yards of her before she ran off.
So this season I ended up with Tag soup
Maybe I should be shooting small Deer ? the picture of trees the doe is just right of center laying down with it head up.
I’ll let the little ones go unless requested by the landowner to reduce the headcount.

Coming out of the woods for lunch today and was able to stalk up on a doe and her fawn bedded at the base of an oak tree. They bolted as got inside of 20 yards.
upload_2019-11-2_14-56-56.jpeg

upload_2019-11-2_15-0-14.jpeg
 
So this season I ended up with Tag soup
Maybe I should be shooting small Deer ?

You should be shooting whatever you want that is legal.

I've been hunting for mature bucks, and taking mature does when I have an anterless tag that I feel like filling, but I have been passing the immature bucks and small does for 15 years or so now just because that's what I have wanted to do. Some day I might change my goals and maybe you will to. Nothing wrong with that.

Enjoy it no matter what. I'll bet you ended the day feeling pretty darned good that you executed some very fine stalks even though you only have tag soup to eat!
 
No I did not fire a cap before loading. I did run a patch down with alcohol and took nipple out and ran a pipe cleaner with alcohol as well. Then a dry patch and pipe cleaner. I then loaded it took nipple out and filled drum as well.
Maybe it was a bad Cap or Maybe I should of waited longer before I loaded it or maybe it is just Pyrodex.
Any way next time before I load it for hunting I will clean out the oil and let dry longer and fire a couple caps.
As for not getting a Deer no big deal as I had bagged a Caribou this fall and have meat in the freezer. I am not strictly a Trophy Hunter but I do like to shoot mature animals.
I'm sure as I age my goals will change, but I'm 58 and have bagged deer from three States in one year, when I was hunting hard.
But any more it's about the Sunrise and time in the timber to drift like smoke, taking a animal is a close second, but I do enjoy venison.
Thanks for the Tips on the Muzzleloader since it's still kind of new to me.
 
You should work hard on your concentration and follow through, follow through is not just for flintlocks but can be useful to cap shooters also. Even with a hangfire you should be able to remain on target long enough that if the gun fires you will still hit your target. As you discovered when your rifle finally went off it is also a safety issue.
 
Stored pydrodex will go bad over time, real BP is as good 150 years from now as it is today. The ignition temperature of pydrodex is over 700 degrees, BP around 450 degrees, real BP is the ticket.

If there is any way you could round up some real BP it will go a long way in getting your gun to go off in the blink of an eye.
 
I did not know putting powder in drum was a bad thing as that is how I have gotten a dry ball out.
I will try to get some Black Powder for hunting. I have looked for it at local gun stores with no luck.
It is a safety issue but how long would you stay on target after a miss fire ? 1 second 2 seconds ? It does catch one off guard, I just thought I need to recap it and try again.
What is everyone opinion of Remington Caps. Thanks Everone I am learning.
 
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